Unhealthy living stays despite disease fear: Study

People across the world continue to smoke, drink and avoid exercise even though they also fear their unhealthy lifestyles will lead to long-term chronic disease, an international study found on Tuesday.

Nearly half of the 12,000 people questioned across 12 countries admitted they only exercise for an hour a week or less, while 70% drink alcohol and almost a third smoke.

Among the biggest drinking and smoking nations were Britain, which at 84% had the highest proportion of drinkers of the 12 countries surveyed, and Russia, where 43% smoke.

Yet while such unhealthy lifestyles might suggest people don't care about their health, the Bupa Health Pulse survey found that four in five, or 80%, say they are worried about developing chronic diseases.

"While we seem to be aware of the prevalence of chronic disease in society, we're not doing enough to reduce our risks of developing a long-term condition," Sneh Khemka, medical director of Bupa International, said in a statement with the survey's results.

Bupa, which also commissioned a report on the survey from researchers from the London School of Economics (LSE), questioned 12,000 people in Australia, Brazil, Britain, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and the United States.

When asked about the fears of developing chronic diseases, a third of respondents were most worried about cancer compared to only 11% being most worried about heart disease, and only 8% about diabetes.

This was despite the fact that heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in Europe, the United States and many other rich nations.

According to the Geneva-based World Health Organisation, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases accounted for almost a third of all deaths around the world in 2005.

"We know from research that exercise is one of the most effective lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your risk of developing long-term conditions," said Julien Forder, a senior research fellow at the LSE, who worked on the report. "Nearly a third of cardiovascular disease and more than a quarter of diabetes could be avoided if everyone started to exercise."

When asked to name their biggest barrier to making healthier lifestyle choices, 24% of those surveyed cited lack of time, almost a fifth cited motivation and 14% blamed the expense.